Orchid season so far

There are two ways of looking at the current Orchid count - on a positive note it is already at 95% of the total number of Orchids three years ago. That is in early May before the Broad-leaved Helleborines appear and before a lot of the expected Orchids have shown up. On a negative view it is only 27% of last year's Orchid total and some of the areas where I would expect a lot of Orchids seem to be low on numbers. It could be that the very dry spell we are having is retarding the appearance of some plants. Perhaps the time to judge is 28th May as I have a record of the Common Spotteds on that date for the last five years. Two years ago that was 208 (vs 209 this year as of 5th May) but last year it was 442 and I think we will struggle to equal that figure this year.